A Good Day
by readergrl56
Summary: Sometimes, Hinata realized, a simply good day could actually turn out to be better than the best day ever. Hinata X Kiba. Slight Hinata X Naruto


Gr. The divider thing is totally wacky today. Anyways, this fic came about when I got a brain blast during work of my chapter fic "A Night with Roxanne." (Thereby, halting production of that fic which still has yet to be taken up again.) This little oneshot was supposed to be just that: little. A couple hundred words centered around a small incident. It somehow mutated into this giant of a oneshot. As for that incident that it was originally supposed to be centered around? Never made it into the actual story. Go figure.

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October sixteenth turned out to be the best day ever for Hinata.

She had done nothing special to start it out as the best day ever. She awoke at the same time as usual, bathed and dressed as usual, ate a typical breakfast, then went down to train with Kurenai and the rest of her team. Training was the same as it ever was, except for when she found a slight opening in the defenses of her opponent and gave him a surprisingly deep cut. In typical Hinata fashion, she stopped fighting as soon as she saw the blood, hurried to get bandages, and apologized a thousand times over as she cleaned and wrapped the wound. As with any other time that she had injured a teammate, she became so shaken up with guilt that her judgement was affected. The only reason she, herself, did not become injured in the proceeding fights was that her male sparring partners would stop or deflect their attacks when they saw that she would not be able to raise up a defense. Kurenai observed that no one was getting any real practice in, so she called off training early. Hinata went home with her trademark embarrassed flush present upon her face and took a second bath, normal in the traditionally clean Hyuuga household.

After her bath, Hinata decided to take a walk around the village. As she stepped out of the family compound, the crisp October air blew past her, rifling her slightly damp hair. The protection that her jacket gave her made her glad that she had worn it. Her walk took her past various houses and it wasn't until she smelled something delicious wafting from one of the apartments that she decided to visit the shopping and restaurant part of town. In the market mothers chased after their children, wives yelled at their husbands, and people her own age grouped together and gossiped. The restaurant area was a mixture of smells, wonderful in their own sense, but mutated when stirred together. The street was relatively quiet. That is, until she passed by Ichiraku`s ramen stand.

"SAKURRRRRAAAAA!!!! Why won't you go with me?!?!" The voice that was unmistakably Naruto`s projected through the street. Hinata halted in her walk, totally taken off guard. Usually, she had to take at least a couple minutes to collect every ounce of courage and every scrap of bravery in her possession just to manage a stuttered "Hello." She was not prepared at all for a chance encounter with the recipient of her affection, especially since he was approaching her rapidly, running after a slightly faster Sakura. Hinata`s eyes began searching side to side for an alley or shop that she could disappear into, which is why she didn't see the blond teenager heading straight for her, his mind too preoccupied with his female teammate to watch where he was going. All of a sudden, Hinata`s vision became obscured with yellows, oranges, and blacks and her head met with the street painfully.

When she gained her senses fully back, she became suddenly aware of the warm body pressing down on hers. The body of Naruto. The body of the boy she had loved for years. 'Oh, God,' she thought, already feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. The only other coherent thought she could form was to not faint by any means possible. It would just triple the humiliation of this moment.

She felt the boy on top of her begin to shift. When she moved her eyes to look at him, her gaze was met with a giant pair of bright blue irises. Her own eyes grew wide in the shock of having his face so close to hers. The blush, which she had been so valiantly fighting, became darker. She decided to ignore it and say something, but, before she had uttered even one word, he suddenly sprang up and put his arms behind his head in embarrassment.

"Oh man, Hinata, I'm sorry. I just didn't see you there and I just plowed right through ya`." Seeing that she was trying to rise to her feet, he held out his hand. "Oh, sorry. I guess I should've helped you up in the first place. You know, all this gentlemanly stuff that Sakura keeps tellin' me to prac-." He suddenly stopped talking, looking at Hinata like he had never seen her before. "Hey, hey, wait a minute. Hinata! _You're_ a girl!" he said, pointing at her excitedly. "Do you realize how great this is? Oh man, it's awesome!" Hinata stared at their still-clasped hands and worried that he had gone insane.

He let go of her hands, sticking his own in his pockets, and straightened his back in a very "gentlemanly" pose. "Say, Hinata? How would you like to accompany me to Ichiraku Ramen for some ramen tomorrow? All expenses taken care of, of course."

For once, Hinata was certain that she was not blushing. How could she be? Her whole body had gone numb with shock. Her brain still had yet to signal her heart to pump the excess blood to her face. It even stalled her mouth from answering Naruto's question until a couple of breaths after he asked it. When she finally realized that she had not answered, she was so embarrassed that she could only manage a stuttered "S-s-sure."

Naruto's smile was radiant enough for ten men. "Perfect!" he said. "This is awesome, really. Thanks a bunch Hinata. Let's meet after training, ok?" When she nodded, he smiled once again. Then, he turned and began running away, turning his head while he ran to yell back at her, "See you tomorrow! Believe it!" Soon enough, he was just an orange dot on the horizon. Hinata was left in the middle of the street to quickly regain the function of the blood vessels in her cheeks.

The rest of the day, reality seemed to have no place in Hinata`s mind. All food tasted the same, all conversations floated just past her ears, all moments forgotten as soon as they happened. The only reality for her still seemed like a dream. A date! A real date with _Naruto_. The thought kept her from falling asleep. She was too busy thinking of how their date would go. Most all of the fantasies consisted of her finally overcoming her extreme shyness and of Naruto confessing his long-time love for her. When she eventually fell asleep, her dreams, too, were filled with visions of their love.

Hinata woke up the next morning, bathed, dressed for training, and ate her breakfast. The euphoria from the previous day had died down, but only somewhat. She was still left with a slight smile, uncharacteristic of the shy girl. It was unusually cold for an autumn day, so she donned a scarf, hat, and gloves along with her usual jacket. Hinata tended to catch cold easily, which is why she needed to bundle up.

The frigid wind hit her face as soon as she walked outside of her family's home. The reaction of hot and cold temperatures caused the skin of Hinata's cheeks to turn pink where the wind hit them. She hid her face further behind the scarf so that the only parts of her face that could be seen were her pearly eyes. Her long hair was taken aloft by the breeze and floated along behind her as she walked. The grass outside of the training grounds crunched beneath her feet, the green color lightened by the newly formed frost.

Both of her teammates were already in the clearing when she arrived. Shino was leaning against a tree, staring into the air, and Kiba was pealing the bark from a branch. They were dressed in their normal clothes, which didn't really surprise Hinata. Kiba had told her that the Inuzuka clan had unusually high body temperatures and Shino normally dressed in so many layers that she had often wondered why he did not die of heat stroke in the summer.

The three males, including Akamaru, looked up when she entered their training ground. Akamaru got up from his position on the ground to come over to Hinata and sniff her hand in acknowledgment. Shino straightened up from his lean and Kiba threw away the branch and greeted her with a "Hey, Hinata."

She responded with a "Hello" and noticed that their teacher was not there. When asked about Kurenai's whereabouts, Kiba said that she had to attend a meeting. Kurenai had told him that they should just start training without her but Kiba and Shino had waited until Hinata showed up to actually start.

Hinata and Shino first sparred while Kiba ran through some techniques with Akamaru. She fought hard against him and, as usual, over-exhorted herself. The boys let her rest with Akamaru afterwards while they practiced their hand-to-hand combat. It was while Hinata and Kiba were preparing to spar and Shino was getting ready to work with his beetles that Kurenai came into the clearing. They stopped and walked over to her.

"Well, it looks like you guys have made great headway in your training," she said, looking them over. She stopped her gaze on Hinata and smiled. "I think congratulations are in order for Hinata." The boys gave her confused looks. She turned to them as she lightly placed her hand on Hinata's shoulder. "She was discussed between some of us at the meeting. It seems like Naruto asked her out for some ramen yesterday."

Hinata felt her cheeks grow hot when the boys turned to look at her. The corners of Kiba's mouth were downturned slightly and his brow had a bit of a furrow in it. Shino's face remained expressionless, from what she could see, except for his raised eyebrows. They remained quiet for a few seconds, during which time Hinata's anxiety level began to rise. She worried that they thought she had done something wrong. Her team had always been her support system and, without their support, she just didn't know what to do. She began her old habit of nervously twiddling her fingers and saw Kiba briefly glance down at them. A glint of understanding appeared in his eyes and he relaxed his forehead before breaking out into a huge grin.

"Well, _finally_, Hinata!" he said, pulling her to him with one of his arms. "How did you finally get him? You lure him in with your womanly antics? Build up your arsenal over the years to release every charm in the book at once?" He reached over with the arm that wasn't currently encircling her shoulder and ruffled her hair. "Always knew you were a genius. I just didn't know it was of the evil kind." Hinata giggled at the compliment, relieved that she had only imagined Kiba's disappointment.

While she tried to smooth down her mussed hair, Kiba turned to Kurenai with a playful smile on his face. "Hey, Kurenai, you know how we could celebrate this happy occasion?" She turned to him, a look of 'Do I really want to know?' on her face. He took that as his cue to continue. "I say we take the rest of the day off. You know, so Hinata doesn't get too tired for her date today." He looked at her in anticipation.

Kurenai studied him, then grew a devilish smile. "Well, Kiba, I don't think I can really give you guys the day off, but I think I have another idea. Why don't you take on half of Hinata's laps today? You know, so she isn't too tired for her date today."

Kiba`s smile vanished instantly. He let go of Hinata`s shoulder and walked away, grumbling. Akamaru got up from his place on the ground and followed him, whining. Shino, too, left. A beetle crawled on his cheek as he walked. When the two women were alone, Kurenai placed both of her hands on Hinata`s shoulders and looked into her eyes. She gave the girl a comforting smile and said, "I really mean it. Congratulations." Hinata shyly smiled and muttered her thanks.

After practice, Hinata walked through the constant wind of the day to her house. While she was gathering her bathing items, she noticed a bottle of scented oil on her dresser. One of the branch members had given it to her for her birthday years ago. She had never seen a use for it before, but she grabbed the glass bottle and decided to use it for her hair today.

She stood looking at her various items of clothing after her bath and tried to decide what to wear. Her eyes landed on a crème-colored sweater that Hanabi had given her when she saw that her sister owned nothing but bulky jackets. Hinata noticed that the sweater was rather thin, when she put it on, and most definitely clung to her figure more than the jackets she was used to. She decided to wear it, however, because she decided it was time for some changes. She chose one of her thinner jackets, figuring a bulky one would just be awkward to carry in case she had to take it off. Besides, she had noticed that the day had warmed up during practice and Ichiraku was bound to be overheated.

She regretted her decision as soon as she stepped outside. The crisp October air cut through the thin layers and chilled her body. She wondered if she should go back inside and change, but she realized that time was passing by and she should just head towards Ichiraku. Plus, she didn't want to be embarrassed in front of the servants.

It was at that time of the day where everything seemed to be a grainy, gray-toned painting. Only the yellow light seeping from the houses and storefronts broke the haziness. The light threw people into immediate warmth, no matter the temperature that they were feeling.

She ducked down into Ichiraku, when she reached it, and began looking for Naruto. To her dismay, she could not see him anywhere. Hinata began to panic. Was she too early? Had she gotten the day wrong? Had there never actually been a date and had she just imagined the whole thing? She reprimanded herself and, instead, told herself to take a seat. She took off her jacket, placed it on the counter, and set her folded hands beside it. A thread had worked itself loose from her sweater, so she played with it while she waited. A knot was tied upon another knot. Two smaller knots were tied equidistant from that center knot. All three knots were combined to form a final knot, which was more like a small ball of thread. She pinched off the ball with her thumb and finger nails just as she saw Naruto enter the stand.

He looked around the place and, when he spotted the girl, jumped into the stool beside her. He rushed off an apology for being late and she murmured that it was not a problem. He apparently didn't hear her because he asked her what she was planning on getting without recognition of her statement. Hinata said that she wasn't sure what she wanted and Naruto immediately rushed right into a summary of every kind of ramen on the menu. He excitedly listed the ingredients, degree of spiciness, and what he personally thought of each. She dazed off a little during his rant, pleased because this was the most that he had ever talked exclusively to her, outside of teamwork. After his rant, she decided to order a bowl of Ichiraku's "Original" ramen while Naruto gifted himself with four bowls of the beef ramen.

Soon enough, his stomach was round and bloated, his face covered in remnants of ramen, and his mouth upturned in a content smile. He had polished off his four bowls in less time than it had taken her to eat her one. She was still scooping up noodles with her chopsticks when he seemed to wake from a short doze. He gave her a soft smile and she had to duck her face down in her bowl to hide the pink tinge on her cheeks. He leaned forward so that his eyes seemed huge to her and said, "you know, Hinata, I'm really glad you came with me. You really saved my butt."

Hinata didn't understand what he was talking about. Saved him? By going on a date with him? It confused her, so she looked up from her food and gave him a questioning "What?"

"Well, you know how today is 'Free Ramen for Couples' day?" Hinata hadn't, but, sure enough, there was a sign behind Naruto that read "Couples Eat Free-October 17th." She tried to force down the bit of understanding that was working its way up in her. Tried to tell herself that this was coincidence. "At first, I asked Sakura, thinking, you know, a teammate would be more than willing to help out her financially-troubled friend. You know what she said? She told me that I was wasting my time asking her out and that she would never date me in a million years! As if I was asking her out on a date!" Naruto grinned a little sheepishly, as though that had been exactly what he had been doing.

He fixed his glazed-over expression back on Hinata. "But, then I totally ran into you, Hinata. Oh, and sorry again about the 'running into you' part. When I saw you, I realized that Sakura isn't the only girl in the village. I could still totally get the deal with any other girl. That's where you came in! You were really great to be my back up. I have never eaten so well in my life. And for free, too!"

Hinata could feel the water glass up her eyes as they frantically searched Naruto`s face for any sign that the situation was more than what his statement let it out to be. "S-s-so y-you just asked m-me out t-t-to get free f-f-food?" she hated the way her speech was impaired due to emotion.

Naruto raised one of his arms to scratch his neck, giving the illusion of embarrassment. "Listen, Hinata," he said, "if you thought this was some kind of _date_, I'm sorry to have confused you. You're a real great person, and I really like you as a friend, but, to be honest, I still kinda like Sakura." He sounded sincerely apologetic and, Hinata reasoned he had no right to be. It was _she _who had gotten her facts mixed. She always mistook things.

"N-no. D-don`t apologize. It wa-wasn't your f-fault." She tried blinking many times and avoided bright light, but she could still feel the water growing heavier in her eyes. Trying to hold it back seemed of no use, so she gathered up her jacket and left with an "E-excuse me."

Once she had exited the building, she discovered two things. First, the night had finally come in full force so that it was dark enough to see the stars beyond the light of the village. Second, the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Hinata had to immediately put on her jacket over the thin sweater, lest she freeze to death. Even so, she still shivered violently as she walked away from Ichiraku. The darkness, however, she was glad for. It would let her tears remain unseen and it would also allow her to remain somewhat hidden from view. She used that cover of darkness to slip quietly away from the building-heavy part of the village. She could not go back to her home just yet because she knew that she would not be able to get to sleep. Right beside the training grounds was a hill where people sometimes ventured to relax. She decided to take a walk there and calm herself down.

The long grass of the hill was wet with dew, soaking the bottom part of Hinata`s pant legs. While she walked around the edge of the hill, she was surprised to hear a female voice yelling at someone. She could barely make out a tall, long form standing up and two other forms lying down on the hill. Moving closer, she could make out some of the words that the female was yelling. "-ket at home?! What do you expect me to do, Shikamaru? If I lie on that cold, wet grass, I`ll die of pneumonia!" There was a slight pause in the speaker's, who Hinata now knew was Ino, voice. A deeper voice answered, but too quietly for Hinata to hear. Ino started back up with "How dare you say that life would be better that way! I am your beloved teammate! And don't you dare laugh, Chouji. You're going to die of a heart attack if you don't stop eating those chi-Oh, hi Hinata." For, Hinata had finally approached the group, stopping Ino in her rant.

"So," Ino said, "we heard about your date with Naruto. Hope it went well. Frankly, I don`t see why you like him so much. He's insanely annoying." Hinata did not want to go into too much detail, so she just responded that their date had been fine. "That's good," said Ino in that tone of politeness used when two peo0ple don`t talk too often. "If you're looking for Shino and Kiba, they're just a few meters over there." She pointed. Hinata was surprised that her teammates were here, but she thanked Ino anyway and went off in the direction that she had been pointed towards.

Just a minute or two into her search, she spotted the large, white form of Akamaru, still luminous even in the darkness of the night. Lying against the sleeping dog was Kiba while Shino sat cross-legged a few steps away. Both boys looked up when they heard the rustle of grass. Kiba waved her over. "Hey," he said. "Didn't think that you would be here. How was the date?" When she did not respond, he used his arms to prop himself up. "Is something wrong? Wait…I smell salt. Have you been crying?"

Hinata thought about denying it. She had never been too good with talking about her emotions, but she was too drained right now to make an effort at denial. She bit her lip, then nodded. Kiba sat up straighter. "What'd he do to you?" His voice had hardened considerably.

Hinata was shocked at the venom in his voice and nervously stammered out "N-nothing." Her assurance was cut short by a violent set of shivers, brought on by a cold breeze blowing through her.

Kiba instantly changed from angry to concerned. "Oh, jeez, Hinata. You're shaking. Come 'mere." She walked over to where he gestured at, crossing her arms to try and preserve some heat. He was sitting on a large blanket, which he gestured for Hinata to sit beside him on. She complied and, when she was seated, he wrapped another blanket around her shoulders. The blanket had a strong canine odor, as though many of the Inuzuka`s companions had used it for a bed. When he asked her "Better?" she nodded. He put an arm around her shoulders, then, and pulled her down with him so that her head was resting on Akamaru, like his, and her body was pulled up against Kiba`s. The temperature difference was obvious, but, then again, Kiba had always been warm. She felt herself started to doze off there, under the stars, listening and feeling Akamaru take deep breaths in his sleep, and enveloped in the soothingly familiar presence of her teammate.

October seventeenth had turned out to be an extraordinarily good day for Hinata.

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I really do adore the Kiba x Hinata pairing. Only, a lot of their fics have Naruto being a total ass to Hinata. Naruto really isn`t mean. He just can be...ignorant sometimes. Also, if you`re wondering why I chose these specific dates. October 17th (2009) is going to be Sweetest Day for this year. I didn`t want to go with the usual Valentines Day fic for a romantic holiday. Therefore, I chose Sweetest Day. If you have never heard of it, don`t worry. Most of the US hasn`t. It`s only observed in certain areas of the US. And for those of you who think Valentines Day is just some corporate-made holiday, say hello to Sweetest Day. It _really_ is a corporate-made holiday. Made by the candy companies to boost sales. Haha. So romantic.


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